The graphic depicts a set of laws known as Dale’s Laws that governed the Colony of Virginia (Jamestown) from 1610 to 1619. A few terms to ponder over as we attempt to sift through the interpretation of sparse facts to arrive at a reasonable conclusion as to the status of the first Africans to arrive …

As promised, I intend to keep interested followers fully informed, but first things first. There is a plan to the research and mechanisms for communicating not only with you, but others who may hold clues to the yet unanswered questions. In addition, there will be periodic reports that will guide the reader to a better …

I mentioned last week that the offsite research for the Louisiana 16 Project has begun and I am thinking that you may be interested in what that will entail. Sharing the details will be beneficial for the necessary organizing on my part and hopefully, will be somewhat instructional or maybe even entertaining for you. …

Last week’s column discussed the fact that in 1834 James Madison made the decision to sell a few of his enslaved people to his cousin William Taylor. He reconciled the act to a friend by stating that they consented to go, and he imagined that Taylor would do better by them than he could, presumably …

It is not a compilation of facts and figures for the sake of collecting and archiving data. Frankly, if that were the goal, we would be hard-pressed to push on. There is a depressing paucity of evidence of the particulars of the 1834 sale of a purported 16 men and women, all people of color …

Except for doing my part to insure a good/great turnout for a fascinating program to be held Sunday, Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. at The Arts Center In Orange about black baseball in Virginia, every waking hour of my day has been pledged to preparing for the upcoming odyssey to Louisiana. Well, in many ways …

For the first 30 or so years of her life, she was likely known only by her given name, Jenny. It was later that she would be given a surname that she would pass on to her descendants. Jenny plays an integral part in the discoveries thus far unearthed in the search for the Louisiana …

Lucy Lewis Thom married William Taylor in October, 1834 and relocated immediately following the wedding to his plantation on the Mississippi River in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. According to Thom family history Lucy left her home place in Culpeper County on that “honeymoon” journey with a maid. See Part One published in the Culpeper Star …

The departure date is rapidly approaching. Last week I alluded to the considerable factors that fueled route decisions. The 16 whom I seek, left their home, their families—literally everything they had ever known—for a distant place that might as well have been the moon. Their knowledge of this place called Louisiana was either nonexistent or …

I have a few observations coupled with a few ponderings: no conclusions yet. On a good day- absent precipitation, health issues and reasonable temps- a group of this size might cover about 20 miles. There of course were other variables and we will talk about them later. It has been theorized that the involuntary travelers …